Third Watch Crossover and Over
by Kidcomfy
Summary: Third Watch in a humorous crossover with other shows.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Third Watch or any of it's characters or any other shows and characters...I do own my car.  
Author's note: I came up with this idea when I heard the news that TW had been officially cancelled. This story was originally called "We're Leaving and we're taking you out with us" Enjoy. Oh yah...if you like it, please review and let me know.

Third Watch: Crossover and over

Chapter 1 Faith and Jelly

Faith and Jelly are pulling up to the scene of a car fire. They had been called onto the case because the unit that first responded to the call, discovered that there was a body in the driver's seat, burning in the blaze. As Jelly draws closer to the location, Faith looks over the scene. The car is still smoldering in a parking lot and black smoke is billowing out of the broken windows and white steam is rising off the metal frame.

The parking lot has already been roped off with yellow crime scene tape and there is a large mob of people gathered around. Most of them are dressed formally. She notices that there are three units from the five-five there and they are having trouble keeping the crowd back behind the tape. Men and women, dressed to the hilt, are trying to sneak around the police and get near the burning vehicle. The firemen are trying to hose the car off and there are a few people that seem to be arguing with them and their lieutenant, hindering them from extinguishing the fire completely. There are camera flashes going off at the scene and some strange blue lights.

"What the hell is this?" Jelly grumbles as they walk to the site. "Who are all those people?"

"It looks like the red carpet from hell." Faith notes.

"You think it's somebody famous that's burnen up?" He asks.

"I don't know. Maybe this is just a new form of entertainment for rich people." Faith offers back.

An officer is hollering in frustration at the crowd to get back behind the tape and stay there. Faith and Jelly show their ID to him and duck under the tape. A small balding man in a tux slips under the tape with them and grabs Faith by the arm and stops her.

"Are you in charge here?" he says crossly.

"Get your hands off me and step back behind the line."

He raises his hands and says "Hold on. I'm Doctor Garret Macy."

She snaps back at him, "And I'm a new York City Detective. If you touch me again, you're going in. I suggest you get behind the line...now!"

"I'm sorry. You don't understand, I work in the coroners office. Those firemen are destroying evidence. You need to stop them from..."

"I didn't send for the coroner. Who called you here?"

Meanwhile

Jelly walks up to the argument between the fire lieutenant and a nicely dressed couple. The man is a thin redhead and the woman with him has long blonde hair and she is wearing a formal black dress. The lieutenant is trying to usher them away and as they resist him they are pointing towards the firemen that are putting out the fire and yelling that they need to stop hosing the car down.

Jelly steps in front of the lieutenant and yells at the pair. "That's enough! What the hell are you doing inside my crime scene? Get behind the tape or you're going behind bars." He then takes the man by the arm and walks him backwards with little effort. The woman follows along babbling at Jelly in an annoyingly tiny, whiney voice with a southern accent . "My name is Calleigh Duquesne, and we are trying to work here." But Jelly is ignoring her. "You don't know who you're dealing with." She scolds him.

The lieutenant calls out thanking Jelly for his help.

"Go ahead Lieu. These two won't give you anymore trouble. Let me know when I can get in there and have a look."

The redheaded man says in an overconfident cocky tone, "Look detective, I know you're just doing your job, but I'm afraid you're doing it poorly. My name is Horatio Crane, and I'm..."

Jelly turns, swift and angry and grabs the man by his lapel with both hands and lifts him to his toes. "What the hell did you say to me?"

His eyes get wide and his slow cool attitude turns frantic as he quickly stammers out, "I'm a police officer. I have ID in my wallet. I'm a class three Lieutenant. Let me reach into my pocket and get my ID." The girl that was siding with him slips quickly under the tape and walks away into the crowd, abandoning him.

"You don't act like a class three Lieutenant, you're more like a first class jag off. Take the wallet out slowly using two fingers." Jelly is still holding him up tippy toed.

Horatio reaches slowly into his jacket and pulls out his badge. He folds it open and holds it up in front of Jelly's face. "There you go. See? There's no reason for this to get ugly. I don't like pulling rank, but I must order you to release me." He says patronizingly.

Jelly says, "Well I'll be damned, it's true."

"Yes it is true. I outrank you, so I suggest you unhand me, now."

"I don't mean your rank, I mean...your name is actually Horatio. You look more like a Skippy or a Tad. As for your ID...I'm afraid this is good in the state of Florida but you have no jurisdiction here. So I am going to detain you for questioning right here in the back of this RMP. Enjoy your stay in New York."

Back to Faith

Doctor Garret Macy is still trying to explain himself to Faith. "No one called me to come here, I was already here."

"You saw how this happened?" She waves to an officer nearby to come over.

"No. I didn't see it, I was in the restaurant. But the firemen are washing away all the evidence. The longer they keep hosing the car down, the more difficult it will be to solve this crime. I'm a coroner."

"Yah you already said that." Faith notices over Macy's shoulder, that another man has crossed the police tape and has walked up to the burnt car. He pulls his sleeve down over his hand and pulls the back door open and crouches down out of site behind the car. She tells Macy, "Stay right here." then she instructs the officer to get his ID and don't let him leave until she says he can go. Then she hurries around the blackened car.

She finds a man in a black suit with curly brown hair and a neatly kept beard, leaning into the back seat of the car. He has wiped soot from the back seat onto his handkerchief which he pocketed, and is now scooping up objects off the floor into a small envelope.

Faith pulls her gun and shouts at him angrily, "All right...set the envelope down, place your hands behind your head, and stand up real slow."

He looks up at her and smiles, and in a charming voice he says, "Hello. You must be the detective on this case. I'm Gil Grissom. I'm a crime scene investigator."

"Lock your hands behind your head, and stand up slowly."

"Ok." He says humbly and stands up. "This really isn't necessary. I've been doing this job for fifteen years. I'm really very good at it."

"I've never seen you before. Just turn around and stand still." She growls at him. She slips her gun back into it's holster and pats him down. She feels his wallet in his suit coat and pulls it out. It has his badge and ID inside and she looks it over carefully. "This license is for the state of Nevada."

"Yes. That explains why you've never seen me before. Can I lower my hands now?"

"Do you know that man over there?" She points to Doctor Macy.

"Uh...yes I'm afraid I do. But don't confuse his team of forensic misfits with my crack team."

"What the hell is going on here? Is this some kind of morgue challenge you guys are staging here?"

"No, I assure you this is real. The body in that car is real." 

Suddenly a series of flashes go off from the other side of the car momentarily blinding Faith. Jelly runs up to the tall thin woman with long black hair, wearing a black evening gown with spaghetti straps, and grabs the camera out of her hand.

"I'll be taking this." Then he looks around and growls, "Who the hell let the press through? Get her out of here."

"No...I'm not the press." She holds her hand out for him to shake and informs him, "My name is Jordan Cavanaugh. I'm with the medical examiner's office."

Jelly reaches out and slaps a cuff on her out stretched hand. "Yah? Well now you're with me."

A redheaded woman, dressed in a bright red evening gown, walks up to Faith and says, "I'm going to need you to run the plate numbers for me to verify that this vehicle belongs to Doctor Thomas Kirkland. You can reach me at this cell phone number. I'll be at the morgue with the body." She holds a card out to Faith.

"And just who the hell are you?"

"Oh, I thought Gill explained. I'm Catherine Willows and we're with CSI. Uh...that stands for crime scene..."

"I know what that means. What I don't know is why you all have descended on my crime scene and are trying to screw up my investigation."

"We are hardly screwing things up. We were in the restaurant attending a medical investigator convention dinner, and believe me, we do know what we're doing."

Faith rolls her eyes annoyed. "Oh great."

Catherine gives Faith a smug smile and continues, "This event is arranged every year by the chairman of the organization, Doctor Kirkland. We believe that this is his car, and it is most likely that this is Doctor Kirkland's charred remains. He is a dear friend of ours. We were here tonight because Doctor Kirkland was going to announce he was stepping down. You can imagine, I'm sure...how badly we all want to find out what happened here."

"Yah, I'm afraid I can." Faith studies her for a second then places a cuff on her wrist. "That's why I'm gonna hafta bring you in." She grabs Grissom's hand and cuffs him to Catherine.

"What do you think you're doing? You can't arrest us for doing our job."

"No...I am arresting you for interfering with mine. You've just tampered with evidence at a crime scene." She pulls the hanky out of his pocket. "And you two are working together, am I correct?"

She glances around at the crowd, all of them already making speculations on what happened and frantically trying to get near the burnt car with little blue lights and trying to prove their theories. "Alright that's it." She gets on her radio and calls for a supervisor and transport vans large enough to hold twenty to thirty people to come to this location. Then she calls to DK who is starting to roll up the fire hose on the truck. "Leave that out. If any one tries to step near that vehicle, I want you to blast them away from it with that hose."

DK breaks out in a big smile. "Yes ma'am. It'll be my pleasure."

Grissom says, "You're not really planning to bring us all in are you?"

"As a matter of fact I am. You understand, I'm sure...how important it is for me to question everyone involved as possible suspects. And I expect your full cooperation and professional courtesy." She pulls out a note pad and begins writing in it. "So you say this vehicle may belong to a Doctor Kirkland, and that this was sort of his retirement party?"

"Well it was..." Grissom says. "Now I guess you'd call it a roast." 


	2. Bosco and Sully

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Third Watch or any of it's characters or any other shows and characters.  
Author's note: Thanks for the reviews. 

_Chapter 2 Bosco and Sully_

Bosco and Sully are riding together on patrol. Sully is driving and Bosco is bored.

"Man, this is the longest shift I have ever worked. Why don't we drive over to a hundred and fifth and rouse some dealers?"

Sully gives him a disgusted look. "No. Just relax and enjoy a quiet shift."

"I'm bored to death. I wanna do something."

"Ok. We can pull over and write some parking tickets."

"Oh give me a break. There's more important things we should be doing for the community, like bringing in drug dealers."

"And I'm not gonna go looking for trouble."

The radio comes to life and calls for a unit to go to Comp-u-bank at twenty five hundred Arthur. They are reporting a suspicious person in the bank, and a possible robbery in progress.

"There we go." Bosco says excitedly as he calls in that they are responding.

They pull up at the bank and hurry in. The bank manager meets them inside and points to a dark haired man leaning on the counter where customers would fill out their deposit and withdrawal slips.

"He came in about a half an hour ago. He sat in the chair for a while as if he was waiting to speak to a financial advisor, but when they offered to see him next he declined. He said he didn't need help, he was just looken around."

"Just looking at what?" Sully asks.

"We don't know. That's why we called you. He got up and went over to the counter and is just waiting there. He started to fill out a slip, but never came to a teller's window. Frankly, he's making us a bit nervous. We'd like you to get him to leave."

Bosco and Sully share a glance and then walk up to the man. "Excuse me, sir...can I see some ID?" Sully asks.

The man smiles and says, "You're wondering where you've seen me before, right?"

"No, have you been arrested before?"

"No, but I was a mugger once, and recently I was a doctor."

The officers give each other a confused look and Sully says, "Ok doc, why don't you show us some identification, something preferably with a picture, and then we can give you a lift to the hospital."

"Yah, Bellevue." Bosco adds.

"I don't have a photo on me but I can give you an autograph." He takes a deposit slip from his pocket and writes 'To my biggest fans, Joey Tribbiani'.

Sully takes it from him and reads it. Bosco looks over and suddenly he pulls out his gun and yells excitedly, "All right get your hands in the air!"

Joey quickly puts his hands up and says, "Whoa...hold on now. I'll give you one too."

"What are you doing?" Sully asks confused.

"Turn the paper over Sul." Bosco responds.

Sully does and written on the back of the paper is 'this is a hold up, put all your cash in the bag' then the words 'the bag' are crossed off and replaced with 'my hand'.

Sully turns the paper around and shows it to the frightened man and says, "Can you explain this?"

"Yah...I can explain. See I wrote that but then I realized I didn't have a bag so I had to change it."

"That's all I need to hear. Turn around." Bosco pulls his cuffs out and attempts to place them on Joey.

"Hey wait...wait. I get it, you think I'm really here to rob the bank, right?"

"And this is where you're gonna try and convince us you were not, right?" Sully says annoyed.

Joey smiles and says, "This is great. Damn, I'm a better actor than I thought."

"You're an actor." Bosco says dryly.

"There ya go. Now it's comen to ya, right? You've seen me on TV. I've got my own show called 'Joey'"

"Umm...no. Turn around and put your hands behind your back."

"Wait let me show you my screen actors guild card." He reaches back for his wallet and it's not there. "Oh nooo." He says embarrassed. "I guess I forgot my wallet, but I was in a movie once, as an extra."

"Let me guess, 'Dumb and Dumber'. And you played the second guy."

"Hell no. I'm better looking than that guy."

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back." Bosco growls. "I'm not gonna tell ya again."

Joey steps away from Bosco and waves his hands frantically. "No wait. I swear to God, I'm an actor and I'm just trying to research my character."

"You don't look like Winona Ryder." Sully quips.

"No, I'm Joey Tribbiani. My show is called Joey and I play an actor."

"So you're not really an actor, you just play one?" Bosco says.

"Yes...I mean no."

"I thought you said you were researching a character? What does playing an actor have to do with casing a bank?" Sully asks.

"Ok, I'm playing an actor, who gets a part as a bank robber, so I'm practicing being an actor who is trying to research the part he has to play...as a robber...as the guy that I play in the show...uh...that I act in."

"What the hell does that mean? Never mind, put your hands behind your back, you can explain it at the house." Bosco says impatiently.

"No, no, no, wait...let me call my agent Bobbie, she can verify who I am."

"No problem, you get one phone call when we get there. You can call Bobbie, or Matlock or Perry Mason for all I care."

Joey pulls away from Bosco again and says desperately, "Wait...I know how I can prove it to you. Please...Let me show you this. This will prove I'm just acting."

Sully sighs heavily. "Alright...show it to us."

Joey reaches into his coat, pulls out a gun, points it at Sully and pulls the trigger.

Sully only has time to twist to his right in an attempt to dive out of the line of fire. He lets out a loud yell as he falls to the ground, and while pulling his pistol, it fires a round that smashes the large plate glass window in the front of the bank.

Bosco hollers "GUN!" as he steps back and draws his weapon. Everything happens too fast for Bosco to even yell freeze, yet it all plays out in slow motion in Bosco's eyes. He sees the barrel of the gun being drawn from Joey's coat, and as he raises his own gun, he sees Joey squeeze the trigger. Bosco fires twice in an attempt to stop the man from killing his partner, striking him with both rounds, one to the arm and the other in the shoulder.

Joey seems to spin slowly in Bosco's direction. His eyes open wide in shock as something pops out of the gun and unrolls into a flag with the word 'bang' written on it in big letters. Joey stands there for a second, says "Dude...gag gun." then he swoons and falls to the floor.


	3. Davis and Finney

Chapter 3 Davis and Finney 

Davis and Finny are out on patrol. Davis is driving and they are stopped at a red light. A tall thin black woman in a short leather skirt stops directly in front of their cruiser, places her stiletto heeled foot on their bumper and bends down to slowly adjust her fishnet stockings. She gradually lifts her eyes up to meet their stares and blows them a kiss. The woman is built like a model and has natural beauty that is outlined with little makeup. She straightens up, adjusts her skirt, and flings her long dark hair back with a sexy twist of her head, then continues across the street.

"Oh my God." Finney says in awe.

"Put your tongue back in little fellow. She was looken at me."

"Hell she was."

"I thought you already have a little something goen with that paramedic."

"I do. But I ain't dead. And hell, even a dead man would have glanced up at that."

Davis grins and nods in agreement. "So how's it goen with Grace anyway?"

"Good."

"That's all...Good? C'mon man fill me in a little."

"Nah. You mind your manners. I don't kiss and tell, and I don't' like to brag about the fact that I'm only getting like three hours of sleep a night." He gives Davis a grin.

"Ouu...that's what I'm talken about." They both make a fist and knock hands in a sequence they made up themselves.

The radio comes to life calling for all units to respond to 123 Clairview Street. The caller reported that he saw a prowler climbing into the window of the house next door.

Finney radios back that they are responding, and soon they arrive at the scene. The front door is locked but they can see a man who appears dead on the couch through the window. They walk around the house to check the back. The back door is locked but they find an open window and Finney climbs through and lets Davis in. They hear a woman's voice talking softly from another room. They draw their weapons and slowly work their way towards the voice.

Stepping into the living room they find a blonde woman kneeling on the floor next to an open heating vent, holding a bloody knife and having a conversation with herself. Behind her is the man laying on the couch, his stomach is covered with blood from what appears to be multiple stab wounds that he most likely sustained while he was sleeping. The television is on and displaying only static from a tape playing to the end and popping out of the VCR.

They carefully approach her and Davis says, "Police...set the knife down and get face down on the floor."

The woman lets out a heavy sigh and glances drowsily around the room at the officers and casually says, "Oh good...I was just going to call you but I knew you'd be here any minute." She starts to stand up.

"Stop right there. You need to set the knife down." Finny says.

She looks at the knife in her hand and says, "The knife...that's right. I got it out of the heat vent. I'm sorry...I touched it. I know I shouldn't have but I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. I was sort of in...I guess you'd call it a trance."

The officers share a glance. "Lady...you need to set the knife down...right now." Finney orders.

"Do it and get down on the floor." Davis barks.

"Ok." She drops the knife. "I guess this doesn't look too good since I hadn't called you yet. But I assure you, I'm no threat, and I certainly didn't cause this."

"Then you need to cooperate and do as you're instructed." Davis says as he approaches and slides the knife away from her with his foot. Finny cuffs her and then helps her to her feet.

"Look officers, I know this must look bad but I can explain everything."

"Save it. You can make a full statement at the station. Right now you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you..."

* * *

_Earlier that day around 3 in the morning_

* * *

Allison Dubois is sitting up in her bed while her husband is sleeping soundly next to her. A crowd of people are milling around in her bedroom. She pulls the covers up and tries to ignore them but then she notices one of her old roommates, a man named Pat, is pacing back and forth in front of her bed, and he is talking frantically to her, obviously distraught. 

"I can't believe I let it get this far. How could I do this to her? I love her so much, I just couldn't resist, and then I couldn't stop it. It got so out of control. Remember when we were all roommates...you me and Carol? I wish I could go back to those days again. If I could do it all over I would never cheat on her."

"Pat it's good to see you...sort of. Everyone else, I'll talk to you later. Please leave us alone so we can talk." The spirits all turn and walk out of the room through the walls and Allison turns her attention to Pat. "So you cheated on Carol, why did you do that?"

"She came on to me. I'm a guy. I just thought we'd have a few flings that's all. I never thought she'd turn on me. She became like 'fatal attraction'. Calling me at home, dropping in where I worked. The more I tried to end it, the more she threatened to tell Carol. I couldn't take the stress any more. I told Carol myself."

"So I don't understand why you're here. In fact you shouldn't be here. Not if you're still alive."

"I need your help...Carol needs your help." As he says this, his shirt starts seeping red with blood.

"Oh God...Pat. Tell me what happened."

Suddenly an old lady peeks her head out of the closet. "Is this going to take long? I need to tell you where I buried my money so my kids can buy me a better coffin."

"I said later." Allison scolds her. "And it doesn't matter, they aren't going to upgrade your casket, they're going to the Bahamas with the money."

Pat walks towards her and leans over the bed. "Look at me...can you believe this shit?" The blood starts dripping onto her bed. She backs away from him and crawls up to the headboard. She pulls the blanket up to cover herself but it is yanked out of her grasp and pulled off the bed which is now totally saturated in blood.

"Pat what is happening?"

"You have to help me Allison. She did this to me and Carol is going to get blamed." He leans over her as though he is about to climb into the bed with her and she puts her hands up and pushes him away. He falls to the floor in slow motion and rolls onto his side as though he were reclining on a couch. She looks at her hands and they are covered in his blood. She reaches over and shakes her husband to wake him. The person next to her rolls over fast and the face of a woman flies up to within inches of her face and hisses, "You'll be sorry."

She lets out a loud gasp and suddenly all the other spirits begin crowding into her bedroom again. "Get out!" she screams. "All of you...get out of my bedroom!"

Her husband rolls over and awakens her. "What's wrong honey, another bad dream?"

"Yah. Did I yell out loud?"

"Yah, you just threw the kids out of the room. They climbed in bed with us because it was thundering out. So who was it this time? Your mom...my dad...Uncle Floyd?"

"No it was my old roommate Pat."

"Is she dead?"

"I don't know, she could be." She never told him that the 'Pat' she and Carol roomed with years before was a man. She let him believe Pat was a girl because it was easier than trying to convince him that there was never anything between her and Pat. And now it's especially convenient that he don't know.

"I have to go to New York. Pat needs me."

He lets out a tired sigh. "Will you be home by Friday?" He knows there is no point in trying to talk her out of it.

* * *

_back at the precinct in an interrogation room_

* * *

"...my husband is really supportive that way. He's very understanding. My flight got in around four thirty and I grabbed a bite to eat at the airport and looked up Pat's address. Then I got a cab to drive me out to his house. I guess it was around seven o'clock by then. Pat didn't answer the door, but I knew by that time that he wouldn't. He couldn't. I felt his passing the minute I walked up to his door. I found that the window in the back was open, of course I knew it was because the woman that killed him had left it open. I went inside and found Pat on the couch. He was already dead." 

"But you didn't call the police."

"I was going to but Pat told me to take care of the knife first."

"So if you didn't kill him, why were you hiding the knife?" the detective asks.

"No, I wasn't hiding it. I told the officers...I found it there."

"You just happened to look in the heat vent and stumble across it."

"Pat told me to find it. He said that his lover had stabbed him with it and then hid it somewhere. He was afraid that Carol would be blamed for his murder because they had been fighting."

"Pat...the dead guy, told you where to find it." He says sarcastically.

"No, he told me to look for it. I didn't find it until I saw where the killer had hidden it."

"You saw her hide it?"

"Yes...I saw the whole thing. She stabbed him thirteen times. Then she opened the vent and dropped it in. Then she just walked out the door...the front door."

"Ok, so tell us who this woman is and we'll bring her in."

"I don't know who she is."

"You said you saw her."

"Only from behind."

"So ask Pat who she is." He says condescendingly.

She gives him an annoyed look and shakes her head. "It doesn't work that way."

He lets out a dissatisfied sigh and stands up. "I need to check on some things. I'll be back shortly."

He comes out into the hall where Davis and Finny have been watching through the two way mirror. "I almost feel like she's telling the truth. Her story is so ridiculous that no one would make something like that up and expect people to believe it."

"She really is out there." Finny adds.

"Did you find the wife yet?" The detective asks.

"Oh yah. She's in the debriefing room." Davis tells him.

"What did she have to say?"

"She verified that Pat confessed to cheating on her, which ended in an argument and her walking out on him."

"Does she know who the mistress was?"

"No. He told her it was someone she knew, but she didn't want to hear anymore. Said she couldn't handle it yet."

"Does she know Allison?"

"Yup. They were roommates in college about twelve years ago. They needed a third roomy to help with the rent. They placed an ad and Pat responded. They took him in and according to the wife, both women had a crush on him. He picked Carol over Allison."

"Looks like he was still trying to make that choice. Does the wife have a good alibi for this evening?"

"I believe so. She went to her sisters house, and another sister and a couple of girlfriends were there too. They all had dinner together and spent the rest of the night trying to cheer her up. They've been drinking all evening."

"Really. And did she seem to be in good cheer?"

"I guess you could say that...at least until we showed up. She took the news pretty hard. And like I said, she's half in the bag."

"So you believe her?"

"If her reaction was staged, she is the best actress I've ever seen."

The detective starts to go back in the room and Finney speaks up. "Oh I almost forgot, I spoke with Allison's Husband."

"He's here?"

"No he called to verify his wife's claim that she is clairvoyant. He said she works for the DA's office in Arizona and also helps solve murders for the police. He also verified that Allison had a dream about Pat needing help and that is why she came out here...to help her friend. But guess what hubby didn't know."

"What?"

"He didn't know that Pat...his wife's old roommate, was a guy. Allison told him Pat was a woman."

"Now that screams guilt to me."

"Are you going to book her?" Ty asks.

"Yah, everything points to her. She knew that he had exactly thirteen stab wounds, she was trying to hide the murder weapon, she lied to her husband."

"So you don't buy the 'clairvoyance'?" Finney asks.

"Do you?" Ty says with a grin. "She didn't see this coming."


	4. Cruz and Monroe

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Third Watch or any of it's characters or any other shows and characters.  
Author's note: I forgot to put in the disclaimer and authors note on the last chapter but I want to say thanks for the reviews. The story loses a lot if you don't know the show I'm crossing with so I am especially grateful that you are sticking with it. I'm pretty sure you will be familiar with the characters in this chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 4 Cruz and Monroe

* * *

Lieutenant Swersky is finishing up roll call. He places all the officers with their partners in their respective units and when he is done, the only officer left without a partner is Sasha Monroe. She has been a floater for the past few months, filling in for anyone out sick or on vacation, but today there is no where to place her.

Lieu addresses her. "Monroe...since everyone is here for a change, I have a special detail for you. I was going to start this next week but it can't hurt to get an early jump on it."

"An early jump on what?"

"It's that time of year once again when we are expected to visit all the establishments that sell liquor and make sure that their licenses are up to speed."

"Oh no." she groans. "Didn't we just do that a little while ago?"

Sergeant Cruz walks in as Lieu is about to dismiss everyone. "Excuse me...Lieu, is there any chance you can loan us a body today? I'm tryen to get a line on a dealer and I need someone undercover to make some buys on the street."

"You're in luck. Monroe happens to be available."

She glances at Monroe with a scowl. "Ya got anyone else?"

"Take it or leave it."

"I'll take it. It's kind of appropriate I guess, the dealer I'm looken for is called 'Tar Cat the Rat'."

Sasha gives her a look that she is not amused.

"I'll give ya five minutes to change then meet me at my unmarked." She turns to follow Sasha out the door and Lieu calls her back.

"Sergeant..."

"Yah Lieu?"

He points a warning finger at her. "Play nice."

She gives him an innocent smile. "Always."

* * *

_On the street

* * *

Monroe glances around cautiously and slips a wad of money, folded to the size of a match book, into the hand of the young man, who in turn looks quickly back and forth then slips a small package into Monroe's hand. _

She turns and walks away without saying a word. "You bring your fine self around anytime." He calls after her. She leaves the alley and turns left expecting Cruz to come flying in to scoop him up, but nothing happens. She gets a nervous pang thinking that perhaps Cruz has something up her sleeve. She looks around and spots the unmarked car across the street, and Cruz is on the phone. "What the hell..." she says to herself.

She hurries across and hops into the car. "What the hell are you doing? I made the deal, were you even taping it?"

Cruz holds her finger up and says into the phone, "Right. I'll meet you there." She hangs up and starts the car. "Change of plans."

"Where are we going? What am I suppose to do with this?" She holds out the package she just purchased.

Cruz snatches it out of her hand. "I'll take care of it. I got a call from detective Rice."

"Who's that?"

"He's a federal agent. He hunts down terrorists. He got word of a boat coming into port. He believes they're smuggling something in."

"Something like what?"

"We'll know when we get there."

"Well why did he call you?"

"I helped him on the smart bomb case. I guess he likes my style."

* * *

They arrive at the pier and meet up with Dante Rice. He fills them in on the mission. The boat is coming into the harbor. The coast guard is going to intercept and disable it before it gets close enough to do harm if they try to cause an explosion. Once the boat is taken under control and deemed safe, the coast guard will bring it in to dock and Rice will then take charge of the terrorists. He called Cruz just to have plenty of backup. 

Suddenly they get a call from the coast guard. When they contacted the boat and ordered them to stop, the message they were given by the crew was that they were sick. They were sent to release a disease as an act of biological warfare. The whole crew is sick and a few are already dead. The man refused to tell them what disease they are sick with, and it sounds as though he may not even know what he's got. The coast guard has the boat surrounded but they have no intentions of boarding it. They are asking Rice what he wants them to do.

"Why don't we just blow the boat? Wipe out them and what ever disease they brought with them." Cruz suggests.

"Because unless we know that it is not an airborne disease, we could finish what they started."

"So what do we do now, wait for them to die?"

"We call NIH and get a team of medical investigators here that specialize in contagious diseases."

* * *

_In less than an hour_

* * *

An army helicopter circles overhead looking for a safe place to land. "Man they really got here fast." Cruz says. 

"It's a matter of National security. These are the country's best disease specialists." Rice tells her.

It touches ground and a side door opens and a man climbs out wearing a brown suede jacket. He ducks his head a little until he clears the copter blades, then he stands up more than straight, arching his shoulders back until his butt seems to stick out. He has a serious, stern gaze and he stops to scan the crowd looking for the person in charge. He spots Agent Rice, and then briskly walks towards him as if wearing blinders. It seems to Cruz, that he is carrying himself as though he is a superhero, and his attitude of self importance strikes her as comical. She glances at Sasha and they both crack a grin and then look away biting their lip.

Behind him a young woman climbs out carrying a medical bag and a laptop computer and behind her an even younger man who looks as though he just got out of high school. He seems to be the grunt, carrying a medical bag in his right hand with another slung over his shoulder and in his left hand he is carrying a large duffel bag.

The medical investigator holds out his hand to Rice and introduces himself. "I'm doctor Stephen Connor. We got here as fast as we could."

"I gotta say, that was the fastest response time I've ever witnessed by a government agency." Rice commends him as they shake hands.

"Well, we're staying at the Waldorf. We happened to be in town for the MI convention."

"You're staying at the Waldorf?" Cruz says in surprise.

"Yes. We don't normally stay at a place that ritzy, but we had no choice. We were even lucky to get a room at all. Everything was booked for the convention. I don't want you to get the idea that we are frivolous with the government's money."

Cruz tips her head to the left and raises an eyebrow. "And yet you took a helicopter to drive ten blocks." Sasha turns away to hide her smile.

Dr. Connor turns to her and squares up his shoulders and says in a direct tone, "The helicopter is SOP. The nearest one is dispatched to us the minute a call comes in to the center no matter where we are, because our jobs are that important. We never know until we are in route where we are going. It may be a small unknown town in Texas, a famous landmark in California, or it may just be...in your back yard." He says dramatically.

"You're right, I didn't mean any disrespect. I'm just...uh...impressed." She says trying to sound sincere.

"I understand." He turns back to Dante. "So Agent Rice, what are we dealing with?"

"We don't know. That's why we called you."

"Well, I guess I better start by examining the patient."

"The victims are on a boat just outside the harbor. They are suspected terrorists and we don't have the vessel secured yet. We can get you out near it and you can get a closer look at what symptoms they have. That's the best we can do for now. We'll have the coast guard get you in radio contact with them as soon as we get on the boat."

"That's a start, but I'm afraid I will need to be hands on, to effectively eradicate this danger."

Rice studies him for a moment. "Right." Cruz chokes back a chuckle and quickly puts her hand up to conceal her smile. Rice ignores her and says to Connor, "Follow me, I'll take you to the boat."

Connor turns and says to the couple that followed him from the helicopter, "Lets go team. We have lives to save." He then follows rice without offering to carry anything for his 'team'.

A quick chuckle squeezes out of Cruz, and she turns her head and fakes a cough into her hand. The whole time he was talking, Cruz was having a hard time listening to him. She kept staring at his short, super blonde hair that doesn't seem to match his complexion. He has very blue eyes that most women may find attractive, but Cruz finds it unnatural. There is something about his looks that just don't seem right but she can't quite put her finger on it. He reminds her of a life size version of an action figure doll.

* * *

_soon

* * *

_

They are speeding out of the harbor and the coast guard tells them that they have been watching the boat and there has been almost no movement inside. Everyone is either bedridden or dead. Even the man who talked on the radio moved lethargically as though he were very ill.

Dr. Connor is talking with one of the crew from the terrorist's boat. The sick man sounds scared and desperate. Connor explains who he is and why he is there. He tells him that no hospital in the country can help them, only he and his team can treat them for a rare and deadly disease. He wants to come aboard and try.

The man says that four of them have died already. Only three of them are still alive and they are all afraid. He wants help but he wants no police, only the doctor can come aboard. Connor argues that he needs his medical team to come with him. He promises there will be no police, just three doctors.

The man finally agrees to let the doctor and one helper come aboard. If anyone else tries to board they will be shot. As soon as Connor hangs up, agent Rice gets excited. "Great job doctor. I'll take it from here."

"What do you mean? I plan to go aboard and treat those men."

"And you will, as soon as I get them contained."

"Rice, I need to start diagnosing this disease right away. There is no time to waste. And I can't afford to have those men die before I can treat them."

"Connor, those men are terrorists, it really don't matter to me if they live or die."

"Well it matters to me. I need to use those men to figure out a treatment for this disease. Knowing what strain it is may not be enough. I need to see how different treatments react on it. I need them alive to do that. I can't risk the possibility of you killing those men before I can get my work done. And besides, I gave them my word."

"I am not going to let you board that boat until those men are in custody."

"And I have full authority on how we are going to handle this crisis. This situation has the potential of wiping out the whole east coast and possibly most of the eastern United States. Do you really want to be known as the man who could have prevented that...but didn't?"

Cruz pulls Dante aside. "You're not really going to let that guy go in there alone."

"I have no choice."

Soon doctor Connor and doctor Miles McCabe are wearing biohazard suits and have just boarded the terrorists boat. He calls out to the sick men that he has arrived to help them and they have no reason to be afraid. A weak voice calls out that they are in the cabin.

He opens the door and looks around. The man who spoke to him is sitting slouched in the drivers seat of the boat. His face and hair is soaked with sweat and his arm is laying limp over the steering wheel and he is holding a gun but it appears he doesn't have the strength to raise it or even pull the trigger. Another man is laying on his side on the floor next to the door and he appears to be dead. There are two men slouched down on one couch and they look to be just barely alive. There are three bodies on the opposite couch and they all appear to be dead.

"You are really a doctor?" The driver asks.

"Yes I am."

"And do you carry a weapon?"

"No, I carry only my medical equipment."

"You are the best doctor?"

"Yes. I am the best disease specialist in the country. If I can't save you...no one can."

"That's what I wanted to hear."

Suddenly the door slams closed behind them and all of the men leap to their feet and grab both doctors. Using a knife, they tear the protective suits away and the man in the drivers seat plunges a syringe into Connors arm. Another man injects doctor McCabe.

"Now there will be no one to stop the plague we have brought. Your people are doomed."


	5. Lieutenant Swersky

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Third Watch or any of it's characters or any other shows and characters.  
Author's note: I had to get a chapter of Lieu. and I finally learned his first name. Hope you get a smile out of it. Thanks for the reviews. I am working on a few crossover shows for a few of my loyal reviewers. I hope you stay with me until I get them posted.

* * *

Previously in this story: Faith and Jelly investigated a body in a car fire and ended up arresting the members of CSI Las Vegas, CSI Miami and the people in Crossing Jordan who were all at a CSI convention. Sully and Bosco tried to arrest Joey Tribbiani for attempted robbery but Bosco inadvertently shot him. Davis and Ty got a call for a break-in and discovered a murder, then arrested Allison Dubois, the medium who solves crimes with ESP. Cruz and Monroe while helping the FBI apprehend terrorists, witnessed the MI team get ambushed and infected with an unidentified virus. This picks up later that night. 

Chapter 5 Lieutenant Bob Swersky

* * *

The shift is almost over but Lieu is still at the desk answering the phones. It has been a really busy night and it seems that every one of his officers answered a call involving someone important or someone who knows someone important. And Bosco even shot a television star. Lieu has spent the entire shift talking to the press and various police officials from all over the country, and one angry TV network bigwig. 

There are twenty nine people in lock up, all bitching about being held for no reason and demanding to be let go and all insisting that this precinct has no idea what they are doing and threatening to get them fired. The more they complain, the easier it is for Lieu to defend his people.

The phone rings again and he closes his eyes and lets out a heavy sigh before he puts the receiver up to his ear. "Fifty fifth precinct, how can I help you?"

"Yes, this is police Chief Vernon Formalderhide. I oversee the Florida chapter of the CSI division and I am on the board of directors for the Eastern Subdivision of Criminal Investigative Services. I am calling on behalf of a team of investigators who seem to have had a run in with a few detectives from your precinct. The team is lead by Lieutenant Horatio Crane."

"I'm afraid I can't give you any information on that case yet, but if you give me your number, I'll call you back as soon as the situation is sorted out."

"Why don't you connect me with someone who does have that information."

"Your people have not been completely processed yet, nor have they been thoroughly questioned. Therefore that information does not exist. Leave your number and I will see to it that you..."

He interrupts Lieu. "That is not acceptable."

"Excuse me?"

"I'd like to speak to someone in charge."

"You are speaking to someone in charge. I'm Lieutenant Swersky, I can spell that for you if you'd like. I am in charge of this shift in this precinct. And as soon as this mess can be sorted out, I will personally call you and explain the situation to you myself."

"Lieutenant, I am outraged by how your detectives have treated my team like common criminals. My people have offered their services, and instead they were hauled away and detained just because your detectives feel threatened by my team's expertise. If you don't want their help in solving this murder that's fine, then let them go"

"We are not detaining your people just to keep them out of the loop. They're being held for questioning in a murder. The murder of a very important doctor of forensic medicine."

"So you're detaining them for hours just to get their statements? I plan to report this incompetence."

"Oh really? I plan to write a report myself explaining how we couldn't even begin to investigate the murder of a colleague because it took five units, two detectives, a team of ten from riot control and one fireman with a big hose to keep your people from stealing or destroying evidence from the murder scene. You're outraged? I'm outraged too. Your people, although very well dressed, are disrespectful and unprofessional. And if they are not found criminal for being involved in the murder, they most certainly will be found criminal for tampering with evidence and hindering an investigation. As soon as I find which crime they will be charged with...I will let you know." He slams the phone down and lets out a growl. That felt pretty good.

A young man with curly black hair walks up to the desk.

"Can I help you?" Lieu asks.

"Actually...I'm here to help you. My name is Charlie Epps and I'm an expert mathematician."

"And how can you help me?"

"My brother is Don Epps, he works for the FBI, and I have in the past helped him solve several cases using 'numbers'. I came up with an equation that proves within a millionth of a degree of error that a crime is going to be committed and it is in your precinct...most likely tonight."

"Really?" Lieu says with mock surprise. "Well I'll be sure to tell my officers to be on the lookout for crime when they hit the streets. Thank you for that information."

"I get it. That's sarcasm right? But if you just let me show you this formula, you'll understand. A bank is going to be held up. Do you have a piece of paper?"

Lieu hands him a post it pad. "Maybe you should just give this information to your brother at the bureau."

"No he sent me here." He pulls off three pieces of paper and sticks them on the counter side by side. "The population of New York City is seven million, three hundred and thirty three thousand, two hundred and fifty three. Divide that by the five boroughs and you get this." He quickly scratches out some numbers then encloses them in a bracket. Then he sticks another paper down.

"Of that number, two thirds of them are unemployed, but one quarter of them receive welfare." He scrawls more numbers down and sticks more post its down. "Take that result and bring it to the third power, then divide by five again...because of the boroughs." He continues his calculations, putting parentheses around some then enclosing more of it in brackets, then adds more post it sheets to the counter.

"Out of the seven million plus people, five sevenths of them carry guns," he is frantically scratching numbers down as he speaks. "but a third of that is women, so take this result, and factor in the ratio of three to two then again divide by five." He adds even more post its to the counter to the left of his first equation.

"There are twenty three thousand, eight hundred and thirty two banks in New York City, divide by five but cube the result and divide by three because this borough is smaller than the rest and that gives you how many banks are in just this borough alone, then take it to the fifth power and divide it by pi and that tells you how many are in a twenty mile circle containing your precinct."

"Does this train of thought have a caboose?" Lieu asks.

"Hold on, I'm getting to the good part. Out of all these banks, you would think that they are located randomly throughout the precinct, but the randomness is what gives us a pattern. If you throw out all the banks that are on the outskirts by multiplying it by the cosine of the original number, that leaves all the banks that get money delivered before three o'clock. Now take the result of the first equation, and add it to the results of the second equation, then divide that by eighty two thousand, seven hundred and seven...the average yearly income of most New Yorkers, and you get the number of unemployed gun owners that live within a three mile radius of any given bank.

Taking into account that one out of every seventeen hundred people are certified schizophrenic, you can divide the result by the original number of seven million, three hundred thirty three thousand, two hundred and fifty three, and that leaves one bank that is out of the normal design and only five possible people that are capable of robbing a bank, and that brings you to the distinct conclusion that..."

Sully and Bosco walk in from the street with a young man in hand cuffs and approach the desk. They take turns telling what happened. "Check this out Lieu, this Jag off was trying to rob the Chase bank with a water pistol." Bosco says.

Sully continues to explain. "His plans were foiled when the plug came out of the squirt gun and the water seeped through his pocked and down the front of his pants."

Bosco jumps in. "The teller started laughing because she thought he wet himself and to prove to her he didn't, he showed her it was a water pistol."

"At which point, the woman hit him with the bag of money and the rest of the people in the bank jumped on him and held him until we arrived." Sully finishes signing in at he desk and follows Bosco as he leads the perp to lockup.

Lieu turns his attention back to Charlie Epps who is staring, mouth open, at his formula, which is thirty five post its long. "That's all wrong. It was suppose to be a Charter One bank and the guy should be in his mid fifties."

"You figured something wrong, Einstein...check your math, did you carry the one?" Lieu asks. He turns away from the kid when he notices Faith and Jelly walk in to the precinct. "And just where the hell have you two been?" he barks.

They glance at each other taken aback by his demeanor, then Jelly responds. "We've been processing the crime scene."

"For five hours?" he growls.

"No...the first two hours we were trying to keep those over dressed vultures from picking it clean." He snaps back.

"I'm glad you brought them up, I've got a house full of pissed off CSIs and I've spent the entire shift talking to their even more pissed off supervisors."

"Well what do you want from us?"

"I want them out of here as soon as possible."

"Well what do you want us to do first Lieu?" Faith shoots back angrily. "We spent two hours gathering evidence from the scene, we had to get the body signed into the morgue, and the car towed to the impound. Then we had to document all the evidence and turn it in. We got twenty three pairs of footprints that we have to check against their shoes, we got smudges and prints on the burnt car that I'm sure belong to most of them too. We have to question them all and that's all before we can even start looking for a suspect, providing of course, we can eliminate them as suspects, because they all knew the deceased."

"And I haven't had a meal break yet. I'm not really worried whether or not 'they' are being inconvenienced." Jelly adds.

"And what should I tell their supervisors when they call back?" Lieu asks.

"Tell them to order their people to start cooperating." Faith says over her shoulder as she follows Jelly up the stairs to their office.

"And where are you two going now?" Lieu hollers out.

"To eat!" they call back in unison.

The phone rings again and Lieu looks at the caller ID. The call is coming from an Arizona PD. "Damn it. Will this night never end?"

The call is from a detective Scanlon who is working on a missing person case. Allison Dubois had told him that the missing woman is dead and he is waiting for her to tell him where to find the body. He has been waiting a few days and hasn't heard from her so he called her home. Allison's husband informed him that she left for New York City that morning because a friend of hers had been murdered and she is being detained at the fifty fifth precinct in connection with that murder. He asks the detective if he will call there and convince them to let Allison come home. Scanlon thinks she is helping them solve the murder and doesn't realize that she is actually the suspect.

Lieu picks up the receiver. "Fifty fifth precinct how can I help you?"

"I'm detective Scanlon. I'm calling from..."

"The Arizona PD...I know."

"That's right. I'm calling to..."

"Let me guess. You're calling because we have someone here that works for you, and you want us to let them go."

"Yah, how'd you know that?"

"I'm psychic." He says sarcastically.

"Then you must know Allison. I'm told you have her there."

"Look, if she's here, she is staying here until we finish questioning her. I don't care who she knows or how important..."

"That's ok...I understand. Keep her as long as you need. I certainly don't want to hinder your investigation."

"Really? You're not calling to complain?"

"No...we're all on the same team right?"

"Yes, exactly. You're the first person all night who has said that to me. Tell me who you're calling about and I'll see what I can do for you."

"Her name is Allison Dubois. I'm working on a missing person and...well when I questioned Allison I found it was a murder. At least she tells me that the woman is dead but she didn't tell me where the body is. Then she ran to New York."

"Wait a minute, she's blonde right? Claims she talks to spirits?"

"Yes that's her. I need for her to tell me where the dead body is, do you think you can get that information from her?"

"I'll tell my people to see what they can do. They're going to be very interested in this information." As he hangs up the phone he sees Ty and Finny. "Wait a minute, where are you guys headed?"

"The locker room. Shifts over Lieu." Ty informs him. "Why...you need somethen boss?"

"I've received information on that blonde nut-job you two brought in. She is wanted in Arizona for a different murder. I'll pass it on to the detectives, you guys can go home."

"Well the detectives left for the day, but I'll run back and add that information to her file." Finney goes to the locker room and Ty takes the paper from Lieu and heads over to the lockup. He steps to the cage and calls to Allison. "Hey, Kreskin...front and center."

Allison looks up, "Me?"

"Yah, how do ya spell your last name?"

She spells out her name, Dubois,then says, "By the way, congratulations."

"For what?"

"The baby. You're gonna be a father."

Ty lets out a scoff. "Yah...right. You're a nut."

A woman in the cage sits down next to Allison. "Excuse me, I didn't mean to eaves drop, but I couldn't help overhearing. Are you...um...are you psychic?"

"Well yes I am. And yes I think I can help you." Allison smiles sympathetically.

"My name is Sarah Sidle. I have a personal question that maybe you can answer for me. Ya see, I'm in love with someone and I can't tell if he loves me back."

"Have you ever tried just asking him?"

"I can't do that. I know his answer will be that we can't pursue a relationship, but I won't know if he loves me or not." Sarah smiles sheepishly and scans the room with her eyes to see that no one is listening, then she whispers to Allison, "Ya see, I work with him. He's my boss. And I don't know if he is being standoffish because of our professional relationship or if he just doesn't care for me. Can you tell me?"

"I'll try." Allison closes her eyes and sighs heavy, unaware that the woman she is talking to is with CSI. "I see him...he likes you very much. He thinks very highly of you." Allison furrows her brow. "Oh dear."

"What? What do you feel?"

"I feel...he has another love. A great deep love."

"He's in love with someone else?"

"He's...well...I feel his love is very very strong. I'm afraid it isn't with you."

"Who is it with?"

Allison has her eyes closed but Sarah can see by her eye movements that she seems to be watching a scene play out in her mind. Her expression turns to puzzlement then to horror as she watches Gil Grissom leaning over and staring at a dead woman. At first she thought that she was getting a sign that the person he loves had died, but then she realizes that he never knew the woman live. His love is over the fact that she is dead. Allison can only interpret this as necrophilia.

She startles herself out of her trance. "Oh my God. I'm afraid you need to let him go."

"Why? What did you see?"

"You're better off not knowing. Just trust me, this man is not interested in you."

Faith and Jelly are eating at their desks and discussing the case and what they plan to do next. They decide to start questioning each person separately and try to match their shoes with a print and once they can account for the prints at the scene, they will release all the CSI people.

Faith finishes her meal and goes down to gather the personal effects of all the CSI people to see if anything they were found with may be from the car fire. She walks past the lockup and Allison gets a bad sensation. She jumps to her feet and calls out to Faith. "Excuse me...I know this is going to sound strange, and I don't want to scare you but...your husband is very ill."

"Good." Faith says, then walks right on by.


	6. Unprofessional Behavior

Disclaimer: _I do not own any rights to Third Watch or any of it's characters or any other shows and characters.  
_Author's note: _Thanks for the reviews. Elsandra, I had you in mind when I wrote the hospital part._

* * *

**Chapter 6 Unprofessional Behavior**

_**At the precinct**_

Faith and Jelly have been questioning all the people they had locked up earlier. All of them have the same story; they were at the dinner waiting for Dr. Kirkland, the guest of honor, to arrive. When news of the car on fire in the parking lot spread, everyone went outside to see if they could help the victim. Of course it was too late to save him but they all just instinctively went to work trying to find evidence to learn of what happened.

During the questioning, Dr. Hawkes from CSI New York called Jelly to tell him that all the fingerprints they had run so far, all belonged to CSI or forensic technicians except for one they found on an empty pack of cigarettes. The print belonged to a Romel Harris who had just been released from Rykers nine days earlier. He had served time for murdering a man and trying to cover it up by starting a fire. The accelerant used to start this fire is the same kind Harris used to start his fire. Even more substantiating was the fact that Dr. Kirkland was the ME that actually processed the evidence in the case that put Harris away.

Faith and Jelly quickly finish questioning the last of the crowd they had placed in lock up and send them on their way. They are anxious to get out and look up this Romel Harris. They get an address from his parole officer and head over to his apartment. They knock at his door and get no answer so they sit out in their car and wait for him to come home.

* * *

_**At the hospital**_

Doctor Natalie Durant from the MI team, is wearing her hazmat suit. She has just finished taking blood and the vitals of Doctor Connor and Doctor McCabe who are lying in beds in a quarantined section of the hospital. They have not yet begun to show signs of contamination from the terrorist's injections. She sets up her laptop computer so she can connect with the NIH center. She notices a group of doctors walk past the glass wearing masks. She turns to greet them when they enter the unit.

A tall thin doctor, walking with a limp and leaning heavily on a cane is leading a team of three young doctors. He has short brown hair that is in need of a good combing, he has cold blue eyes and a two day growth of stubble that is not quite hidden under the mask over his nose and mouth. He is wearing a white lab coat that is as wrinkled as his clothes. The masks which his team are wearing seem to emphasize their eyes, and Natalie notices that they look nervous as their eyes dart uncomfortably around the room.

She stands and introduces herself. "I'm Doctor Natalie Durant." She nods towards each bed. "This is doctor Connor and Doctor McCabe. We are a mobile medical team from NIH specializing in infectious diseases. We appreciate you helping us with this."

He stares at her for a moment with no emotion then says, "I'm Doctor House and this is my team of..." he turns and looks at them as if he is unimpressed with them and says, "...well this is my team. We're not here to help you. I don't help. We're here to take over where you left off. Uh...except we're not going to inject ourselves with the disease like your guys did. We'll use them as the guinea pigs, and with any luck we may be able to figure out what they got before it kills them."

"Just a minute here." Connor insists. "I am not yet incapacitated by what ever they've injected me with. I am still in charge of this case. We have the best resources on infectious diseases, and what we need from you is to just run the tests and give us the results."

"Look pal, you may feel ok but you don't look well at all." House informs him.

"He looks fine. He's not presenting any symptoms yet." Natalie interjects.

House looks him up and down. "Are you trying to tell me he always looked like a manikin?"

She is totally stunned by his rude manner and now she realizes what his team is nervous about. They knew he was going to embarrass them. "Excuse me!" she says angrily.

"Why did you fart? You don't need to excuse yourself when you're wearing a hazmat suit, you can only offend yourself."

"What the hell kind of doctor are you? Is this a joke?" Connor asks.

"I am the only doctor who may have a chance at helping you. Like it or not, I'm all you got." House turns to his team and says, "Well, lets try to look professional, shall we. You...examine the manikin, and you...check out Doogie Houser over there. I'll be down on the third floor examining a TV star with a GSW who is also suffering from a terrible case of can't-act-atosis. We'll meet in my office in two hours so you can tell me what you find here and give me your summations on what you think they have." He turns to leave then turns back to Natalie and adds, "By the way...I loved you in that movie, War of the Worlds."

* * *

_**Back to Faith and Jelly**_

After waiting about a half an hour a car pulls up and a man gets out with several bags of groceries. They recognize Romel Harris from his mug shot. They approach him and identify themselves and tell him they want to ask him a few questions. He hesitantly agrees and they go into his apartment so he can put down his groceries.

They step inside and there is a noise from another room. "What the hell was that?" Romel asks.

"Is there someone else here?" Faith asks him.

"No. There shouldn't be." He notices his window is open. "I didn't leave that open. Did you guys search the place while I was gone?" he asks angrily.

"No." Faith pulls out her gun and calls out, "Hello? This is the police. We know you're there, step out where we can see you."

She gets no response. Jelly cuffs Romel to the fridge and tells him, "Stay right there."

"This is the police, if you have a weapon toss it towards the door and come out with your hands above your head." They work their way to the bedroom and push the door open. They see no one so they step inside. Jelly grabs the knob on the closest door, and Faith is ready with her gun. He flings the door open and a woman in the closet throws her hands up in the air and hollers, "Don't shoot!"

"Step out. Who are you and why are you hiding in there?"

"Uh, this is really embarrassing. You're gonna laugh when I explain."

"Wait...I know you." Jelly says.

"Yah, we're on the same team. I'm Jordan Cavanaugh. The ME from Boston. We met at the car fire."

"You know Romel Harris?" Faith asks her.

"No...I was..." she glances around and says quietly, "I was looking for evidence to nail this guy in the murder of doctor Kirkland. You understand, right?"

"Yah...I think I do. Let me see your warrant."

"Well...I didn't get one yet. Can't I ride on yours?"

Faith glances at Jelly then spins her to the wall and barks at her, "Hands behind your back. You're under arrest."

They walk her into the kitchen and Romel says, "Who the hell is that?"

"Do you know her?"

"No. The bitch musta been robben me."

"You wanna press charges?" Faith asks.

"Damn right I do."

"Good, we'll go down to the station and do the paperwork, then you can answer a few questions for us and be on your way."

They are walking them out to the car and Romel notices that the trunk of his car is open. "Hey...I didn't give you permission to search my car and I didn't see a warrant."

"That's not us." Jelly says as he hurries over to the car. He finds the redheaded guy from the Miami CSI team vacuuming the trunk of Romel's car. Jelly startles him by grabbing him by the collar of his coat and pulling him to the ground. "Horace...what the hell are you doing in this man's car?"

"The same thing you're doing here. I'm gathering evidence on a suspect. And my name's Horatio."

"Gathering evidence. Oh, why didn't you say so." Jelly lifts him up and brushes him off. "I didn't realize you had a warrant. You do have a warrant, right? This would be a good time to pull it out, otherwise I would advise this man to press charges against you."

They place handcuffs on Horatio and put him and Jordan into the back of the car, and Faith pulls Jelly aside. "What the hell is going on. How did they find out about this guy?"

"They must have taken evidence from the scene and passed it on to coworkers that we didn't scoop up."

Faith looks over his shoulder. "You gotta be kidding me."

"What?"

"That red headed CSI woman from Las Vegas is walking this way. Don't turn around yet. She's going into the building. I can't believe this."

"We're gonna have to put a unit here to protect this place. Something just isn't right. What are the odds that there were so many clues at the scene that everybody got one and they all point to the same guy?"

"Lets put them in a cruiser and have them brought in and booked, then we can talk to Harris alone. Someone is going out of their way to set him up."

On their way back to the precinct, Jelly gets another call from Hawkes, the ME on the CSI team in New York, who informs him that the burnt body was already dead before it had been set on fire and had been through some kind of trauma like being hit by a car. That is what he found to be the cause of death. There were multiple breaks and contusions and massive internal injury. The body had also been dead longer than they first estimated, possibly a few days...more if it had been in a cooler, and he did find some indication that it was a probability.

"Do we even know that this is the guy that we think it is?" Jelly asks him.

"The latest dental records show that it most likely is. Although..."

"Although what?"

"Well...the face of the victim was burned quite badly in the fire. It is almost as though who ever set the fire didn't want us to find out who the vic was. The dental x-rays show the same dental work but the bone structure is off a little. That could be from the fire though, most of the head is charred badly."

"So what else can we use to be sure of the ID. Can you run any finger prints?"

"I'm afraid not. There were no fingers left. We can run a DNA test but the results will take two to five days."

"Five Days! M'adone " Jelly comments. "On TV they get the results in an hour."

"Yah well that's TV. It's actually impossible to run DNA in less than twenty four hours."

"I guess ya just can't believe what you see on TV, like the fast food commercials...the only thing fast is how quickly you get hungry again."


	7. Boy in the Bubble in Brooklyn

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Third Watch or any of it's characters or any other shows and characters.

Author's note: Thanks for the reviews. Mattycakes...I added this chapter for you because you suggested it and you're such a faithful reviewer.

* * *

Chapter 8 _Boy In The Bubble In Brooklyn_

* * *

Lieu is manning the front desk as usual, and he is hoping for an easier night than he had the night before. He takes a call, jots down the information and as he hangs up he spots Cruz and Monroe walking by. "Sergeant, I got a job for you to take. It's a missing kid." He hands her a piece of paper. "Go to this hotel. These people are tourists so be as helpful as you can." 

Sully and Bosco have walked in and approached the desk. "You wanted to see us lieu?"

"Yah. I have a job for you, too. It seems that some big shot stars are in town to appear on Letterman and the studio called for an extra car for crowd control. I need you to go over there."

"Who's in town, did they say?" Sully asks.

"The stars of American Idol. The three judges from the show."

"Oh no. Don't make us do crowd control. Why can't we take the missing kid?" Bosco moans.

"Are you crazy? I'd love to do 'that' crowd control. I grew up watching Paula Abdul." Monroe interjects as she rolls her hands and sways at the hips. "I learned all my best dance moves from her. I'd love to meet her and show her my stuff. And Randy Jackson, since he lost all that weight, well let me say, that 'dog's' best in show."

"Then why don't you go with Sully. I'll help Cruz on the missing kid."

Sasha lets out a shrill scream of excitement. "Really? You'll switch with me?"

"If the boss don't mind." Bosco says diplomatically, as all eyes fall on Lieu.

Lieu rolls his eyes up at Bosco. "Seeing as how you shot the last star you had to deal with, I guess it's a good idea. Go ahead."

* * *

Bosco and Cruz arrive at the hotel to meet with the parents of the missing kid. They enter the lobby and are met by a distraught blonde woman, who is trying to hold herself together, as a well dressed man with dark curly hair and a nice tan is trying to calm her down. She seems annoyed with him and very relieved to see the police officers walk in to the lobby. 

"Thank God you're here. My son has been lost on the streets of New York all day. I need you to go out and find him or get a search party going or whatever it is you do."

The man with her stands close but does not put his arm around her as he offers comfort. "Sharona...please...you need to stay calm. It will be alright." His voice is very sad and his speech very slow but rather than sounding soothing, it sounds more like he is distressed.

The woman turns on him. "Don't you tell me to stay calm. You lost my son in the busiest, toughest and most crime riddled city in the world! Don't you even talk to me!"

He cowers back from her and says softly, "I'm sorry." Then his eyes roam mournfully around the lobby as if he is searching his mind for the right thing to say to her then he just watches timidly as the woman turns her attention back to the officers.

"I'm sergeant Cruz and this is officer Boscorelli. Why don't you tell me your name and give me a description of your son."

"My name is Sharona Fleming, my son, Benjy, is ten years old. He has light brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. He's wearing jeans and an "I Love New York" Tee-shirt that I bought him yesterday." She gets choked up and tries to keep from sobbing.

"Umm...he's not wearing that shirt." The man says softly.

"Yes he is. I saw him in it before I left the hotel this morning."

"No...he's wearing a powder blue polo shirt with a dark collar and it is accented nicely with a navy blue windbreaker." He keeps looking nervously at the floor and glances up only briefly to make eye contact.

"Are you sure? Coz it's important." Bosco says. He's getting an odd feeling from this man.

"Yes. The T-shirt was wrinkled and one sleeve was a little longer than the other." He says. His words are staggered as he pauses a second longer than normal between sentences. "I couldn't have him walking around like that all day."

"Where did you last see him?"

"Uh...at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We were on a tour bus." The man says.

Bosco calls the information in over the radio then asks. "Are you his father?"

"No. This is Adrian Monk, a friend and my former boss." Sharona offers.

"Have you two known each other long?" Cruz asks suspiciously.

"Several years...but how is this helping to find my son?"

"We put his description out, officers are looking for him as we speak. Now I need to ask you some questions for my report. How long have you been in New York and where are you from?"

Sharona goes on to explain to Cruz that she worked for Monk for several years in San Francisco. She recently reunited with her ex-husband, and she and her son are moving to New Jersey to live with him. Since the moving van won't be arriving for three days, she decided to stay in New York for a few days because her son had never been here before. And because Monk has never seen New York either, he decided to come with them. The plan was that Monk would tour the city with Benjy while she got to go clothes shopping.

Cruz turns her questions to Adrian. "So you were with him last. How did you two get separated"  
"The tour bus driver said he was going to leave the museum at eleven o'clock sharp. He was very adamant about that."

"And Benjy wasn't there when the bus left?"

"Umm...not exactly." He looks up embarrassed and every one is waiting for him to continue. "I...wasn't there when the bus left."

"So he got on the bus alone?" Bosco asks.

"I believe so. He continued on the tour when I got...um...when the...uh...when the security guard detained me." He says regretfully.

Bosco and Cruz share a glance. "Why did he detain you?"

"They really don't like it very much when you touch the paintings. But...but...it was very crooked. Every one could see that. I was only trying to straighten it out. And they were very rude when I tried to explain."

"Oh Adrian. You promised you would keep that in check." Sharona snaps at him.

"I tried...I really did. I just stepped over the rope to tip the picture a little bit to the right, that's all, and they dragged me away and questioned me. They actually put their hands on me. It was awful. As they led me away, I told Benjy that I would meet him back on the bus, and I warned him to just stay with the tour. But by the time they released me, it was past eleven. I tried to get a cab so I could catch up with the tour bus but it took me over three hours to get a cab."

"In New York...you couldn't find a cab?" Bosco says with a tone that implies he doesn't believe him.

"Oh I found them...they were everywhere. Many of them stopped...one after the other...each one filthier than the last. There was no way I could climb into any of those germ infested Petri dishes on wheels. One of them was so dirty that I could smell the inside before I opened the door with my hankie. It smelled like rancid food. Then I had to throw my hankie away and buy another..."

Cruz has heard enough. "Ok. Bosco, contact the tour company. See if they found the boy." Then she tells Sharona. "I'm confident we'll locate him. If he stays with the tour group, he'll be fine. I'd like to take a look at your room before we leave."

"I'd like to see your room too." Monk says. "Maybe there is some clue as to where he may have gone after the tour."

"You just let us do our job. I suggest you go to your own room and stay there." Cruz tells him. They all walk to the elevator and punch the up button before they realize that Monk hasn't followed them out of the lobby.

"C'mon Adrian." Sharona calls to him.

His eyes look panicked. "I'm coming." He looks down at is feet and then all around the lobby and calls out. "It's ok...I'm coming."

"I'm going to recommend that you don't let Mr. Monk go out alone." Cruz says.

"Yah...and when we find your kid, I wouldn't let a guy like 'him' watch him anymore, either." Bosco adds pointing to Monk.

"No, you've got it wrong. I assure you, Adrian is a good guy. I trust him with Benjy."

"Yah but he's a little..." Cruz pauses looking for the right word, and as she says, "slow." Bosco says "retarded."

"Adrian is not retarded." Sharona snaps back

"He's not?" Bosco asks sarcastically. "Then what the hell is he doen?"

They turn to look at Monk in the lobby. The floor is white, but Monk is standing on a black tile pattern of a circle. Each circle on the floor is about five feet in diameter and about four feet away from the next one. There is also a one foot wide black border along each wall. They watch as Monk leaps from the circle he is standing on, to the next one. He walks along that circle until he comes to a large table with a giant vase on it and he can't get close enough to jump to the next circle, but he can't step off the black tiles.

Adrian backtracks and hops to the original circle and leaps to one closer to the wall. He then hops to the black border and with his hands out to his side, he leaps at the wall, hugging it to keep himself on the black tile. He sidesteps along towards the elevators, climbing up onto a couch, stepping over the lady sitting on it and back onto the border until he can leap to another black circle. He walks the circle until he reaches the carpet and then walks casually past everyone to the stairs. "I'll see you up there." He says as he passes.

Bosco and Cruz give Sharona a look. "He also can't ride elevators." She tells them. "I know he seems...a little odd, but he has an obsessive-compulsive disorder complicated with a variety of phobias."

"He's a nut." Bosco quips.

"Adrian Monk is a brilliant detective." Sharona says in his defense. "He was practically famous for his crime solving abilities...until the onset of his emotional problems."

"Yah? Well now he can't solve his way out of a garbage bag." She gives him an angry look so he adds, "I mean because of the germ thing."

* * *

_Meanwhile, Sully and Monroe are keeping the crowd at bay_

Sully and Monroe are standing near the door to the studio and about ten feet away a limousine pulls up and the crowd goes crazy as the three stars of American Idol step out. They are waving and signing autographs as they slowly make their way to the door. They reach Sully when suddenly a large woman splits the crowd by pushing people out of the way as she shouts threats at Simon Cowel.

She hollers out that he ruined her singing career as she wields a large knife over her head and swings it down at him. Sully grabs his shirt and pulls him forward out of the range of the weapon, then grabs the woman's wrist with both hands and pulls her to the ground with all his weight. Sasha leaps onto the woman and together they disarm her and place her in cuffs.

After the commotion calms down, the head of security for the studio works his way through the crowd, and after talking to several of his people he approaches Sully and Sasha. "Were you the ones who disarmed the vic with the weapon?"

"Yah, that was us." Sully states.

"Good job. Would you come with me please?"

He leads them inside and heads to the security office. On their way they pass the three stars from the show talking to the media about their ordeal.

Randy tells the reporter, "Dog...that was unbelievable. She started out kinda slow and quiet, but then she built up momentum. She totally took control of the crowd and I thought for sure she was gonna bring it home with that knife, but man, she just came up short at the end."

Paula says, "I have to agree with Randy. That was unbelievable. When she started to swing, my feet began to dance towards the door. She knew what she wanted to do and she made the whole scene her own. I have to say, her outfit was perfect for concealing the weapon...and I am so very happy with how it all ended."

Simon says in his British accent, "I thought that was absolutely appalling. That was a disgusting display. Honestly, I don't know why I'm here...these people don't want to hear the truth about themselves, and that's what I'm giving them. I'm just keeping it real. I really hope she is good at making license plates, because she'll never make a career out of singing or for that matter...as a hired killer."

* * *

_back to Bosco and Cruz_

Within minutes they are in Sharona's hotel room and looking through Benjy's things. There is a knock at the door and she runs to answer it hoping it is her son, but she finds Monk standing there looking flushed and out of breath.

"Adrian, are you alright?"

"Yes. We're only on the seventh floor."

"Are you kidding me?" Bosco chuckles. "You musta climbed a hundred steps."

"A hundred...and five." Monk says trying to catch his breath.

"He also has to count things." Sharona explains as she shuts the door. "You better sit down and rest Adrian."

"No, I am starting to perspire. I need to wash up." He walks into the bathroom and yells out, "Oh dear God...Sharona...come quickly."

They all hurry over as he backs out of the room, his face is pale and he looks as though he is going to faint. "What is it Adrian? What did you find?"

"There is a hair in the sink and the paper strip on the toilet is not straight. And look at how they left the towels. Call the desk and report this to them immediately."

Cruz says, "Oh this guys like a bad movie of the week."

Bosco adds. "Yah, escape of the boy in the bubble."

At that moment the phone rings and Sharona rushes to answer it. She lets out a sob of relief when the voice on the other end says, "Mom? I'm just calling to check in. I'm having a blast."

"Benjy, where are you? I've been so worried. I thought you were lost."

"I'm still on the tour. We're going to ride the ferry to Liberty Island next. I met the nicest people. They let me hang with them since I was all alone. Oh...I think Monk got arrested."

"No he's right here honey. He's fine. We've been trying to find you."

"I gotta go ma...they're boarding the ferry."

"I'll be at the pier to pick you up when the ferry ride is over. You stay there and wait for me, you understand?"

"Kay ma. Gotta go."

She hangs up the phone and through tears of relief she explains everything to Cruz.

"We'll drive you there. We need to make sure that he gets back to you safely."

As they walk out the door Adrian calls out. "Wait. I still need to wash before I go. Could you..." he points towards the bathroom. "uh...the hair."

"Look Mr. Clean...I think it's best you stay here." Bosco steps into the hall and closes the door.

* * *

_back to the crowd control_

The head of security leads Sully and Sasha into an office where a young man with blonde hair is waiting for them. He is wearing a blazer over a tee shirt and jeans. He holds his hand out to shake and glances at Sully's name tag as he says, "Officer Sullivan, I'm Ryan Seacrest. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yah? What do ya need?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to shake your hand. You're a real hero. I want to interview you about what happened out there."

"Oh. No...I shouldn't talk to the press. I'm sure the studio has someone to give a press release."

The man chuckles like Sully has amused him. "I'm not with the press, I'm the MC for the show."

"Letterman?" Sully asks confused.

"No, for American Idol. I take it you don't watch the show."

"No I don't. Sorry."

"That's ok. I want to tape an interview of you explaining how you just risked your own life to save Simon. Have you ever been on TV?"

"Oh...no. No...forget it. I really wouldn't know what to say."

Sasha jumps in, "You could start by introducing your talented partner." She turns so Ryan can't see her face and mouths to him, "Please, please, please."

Ryan tries to persuade him again. "C'mon. Your partner is willing."

"Then just interview her."

"And what am I gonna say...my brave partner was too scared to appear with me?"

"You don't even want to be on TV." Sully barks at her. "You just want to meet that girl and show her your dance moves."

"You're a dancer?" Ryan asks Sasha.

"I can cut a mean rug. I learned from watching Paula when I was growing up."

"Well, I think I can arrange for you to meet her and show her what you can do."

She lets out a loud squeal. "Really? Oh my God, that would be a dream come true."

* * *

_two hours later_

Cruz and Bosco are sitting on the pier with Sharona waiting for the return of the ferry. As they wait, two men walk by laughing about something and they overhear one man say to the other, "Now I've seen it all. A grown man, afraid to step on a crack."

Bosco and Cruz give each other a pondering look as Sharona leaps to her feet and calls to the men. "Excuse me. I couldn't help overhearing you. Did you say that you saw a man who couldn't step on a crack?"

"Yah. It was hysterical. He was tippy-toeing all the way down the pier." They laugh as they put their hands up like bunny paws in front of them and imitate him.

"Did he have dark curly hair, and was he wearing a brown suit?"

"Yah, that's the guy. Said he was looking to catch a ferry."

"Can you tell me where he is?"

They share a grin and one guy says, "Yah...we directed him to a ferry. That one." He points.

Sharona looks to where he is pointing and spots Monk pacing in a panic on the rear deck of a ferry that has pulled away from the pier.

"Oh my God."

"What is it?" Cruz asks her.

"It's Adrian. He's on that ferry. He isn't good on water and he isn't good at being confined in something like that with strangers."

"Oh he won't meet many strangers on that ferry." Bosco grins. "It's going to Potter's Field."

"What's that?" Sharona asks.

"Potters Field? That's the island where New York buries the dead who die indigent and unbefriended." Cruz tells her.

"I don't understand."

Bosco explains. "That ferry is full of John Doe's. You know...dead junkies and transients on their way to be buried. That ride will either kill him or cure him."

* * *


	8. Law and Disorder

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Third Watch or any of it's characters or any other shows and characters.  
Author's note: Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad you're all enjoying this.

* * *

Chapter Eight "Law and Disorder"

* * *

The next day Sully and Bosco are again on patrol. Sully is behind the wheel as usual and Bosco is restless in his seat. He looks out the window then glances over to say something to Sully, but he is cut short before he speaks.

"No!" Sully growls.

"No what?"

"What ever you were gonna say, the answer is 'no'."

"Then I was gonna say 'do you mind if I drive?'"

"Then the answer is 'yes'."

"Then the question is "shall we do what I want to do today?'"

"Then the answer is 'over my dead body.'"

"Then the question is 'Where can they put that huge tarp for Yankee Stadium when it isn't raining?'"

Sully glares over at Bosco who is grinning back at him, but the radio sounds out a tone and the conversation ends as Bosco answers a call for shots fired. They turn on the lights and sirens and head to the location.

They arrive at the scene and a man on the street waves them over. "Down here. I found them when I was dumping the garbage."

"You called it in?" Bosco asks him.

"Yah. I was closing up for the night. I heard a loud bang a few minutes earlier but I thought it was a car backfiring. When I took the garbage to the dumpster, I found them."

He leads them down an alley and behind the dumpster is a girl curled up in a ball against the wall covered with a coat that apparently the caller placed over her. She is beaten badly and bleeding. Next to her is a man laying on the ground with a puddle of blood forming under him on the pavement.

Sully calls for a bus then asks the guy, "Do you know her?"

"No. Not really. I see her out here all the time. She sells drugs in the alley here."

"So you don't care that she's dealing ten feet from your business?" Sully says disapprovingly.

"No one can see her back here. She don't beg for money or bother my customers. I only see her when I dump the trash before I go home."

Bosco leans over the girl and tells her help is coming. He asks her what happened. She tells him that the guy approached her to buy a bag. When she handed it to him he grabbed her and started tearing her clothes. She tried to fight him off and he began beating her. She lost consciousness for a while and when she woke up he was on top of her. She tells Bosco that he raped her. As she tried to push him off she felt a gun in his coat. She pulled it out and they wrestled over it until it went off. He fell on top of her and she rolled him off.

Bosco checks the man and he has no pulse. He gets on the radio and calls in that they have a drug dealer who is claiming rape and a dead body. He tells them to send EMS, the ME and a detective.

* * *

_Meanwhile_

Faith and Jelly questioned Romel Harris and found he had an alibi for the night of the fire. After talking with him they both feel that he is not involved. They decide to look at the evidence from the case that he was originally sent to prison for.

The box of evidence contained very little. Harris had fought with a man over money. The fight ended with Harris killing the man with a tire iron. He then placed the man's body in his car and set it on fire. He poured siphoned gasoline from the car all over the man and lit the fire with his lighter. The detectives found a print on a cigarette butt that led them to him, and in his apartment they found his lighter with traces of gasoline on it.

Faith notices that the lighter that was labeled as evidence is missing from the box and so is the cigarette butt. "Do you think that one of those CSI people killed the doctor and are framing this guy?"

"For what reason?" Jelly asks. "If they wanted his job they could have it. He was announcing his retirement. Everything points at Harris."

"But Harris...I don't know. Convicts usually blame the cops or their lawyer or even the judge, but I've never heard of anyone blaming the forensic person for processing the evidence that convicted them."

"Lets go check with the ME and see if he found anything new."

Back with Sully and Bosco

They wait for about twenty minutes then suddenly a car comes rushing up to the scene. Two detectives climb out and walk up to Sully. They flash their badges. One detective is a tall composed black man and the other is an older Italian looking man with thick wavy salt and pepper hair. He approaches Sully in the way a senior cop would deal with another senior cop and ignore anyone else at the scene.

"I'm detective Fontana this is my partner detective Green. You wanna show me the stiff."

Sully walks him to the scene and explains what they have found out so far. Suddenly a second car comes roaring up with a gumball flashing and a tall balding yet fairly young man with a high forehead steps out, along with a dark haired attractive woman. They walk up to Bosco and flash their badges.

"I'm detective Stabler and this is my partner Benson. We're with special victims. I understand you have a rape victim."

Then another unmarked car comes screeching up with lights flashing and another man and woman hop out and as they approach, the man surveys the alley. He is wearing a black trench coat and he holds it against his body as he bends forward to take a close look around a dumpster that isn't anywhere near the bodies. He stops to inspect everything in the alley on his way to the scene. The neurotic looking dark haired man flashes his badge too quickly to be read, then immediately slips it back into his coat. The blonde woman with him follows and stands behind him obediently, stopping when he stops and watching patiently as he looks at everything. She looks like she could be his daughter.

He finally speaks to Bosco. "I'm detective Goren and this is Ames. I understand you have a drug deal gone bad. Did anyone touch anything and who are all these people? I need the area cleared. Who called this in? Did you get statements from the witnesses?"

Bosco looks at him like he's strange. "Whoa man, you need to slow down. This crime scene is pretty well covered. The detectives outnumber the vics three to one."

The man gets in Bosco's face and says, "I'm sorry, thought you were just a patrol officer." Then he tips his head to the left as far as he can as if he is studying Bosco from every direction and says, "Yah you are. You're just a patrol officer. I believe you're work is done here and it's up to us bigger cops to take over now."

Bosco tips his head to match him and says, "What the hell is wrong with your neck? Is your big head too heavy to hold upright?"

Detective Olivia Benson steps in. "Goren, I'm sorry you and Ames came all the way out here for nothing, but this is a rape. This falls under the guide lines for special victims."

"Well the report I heard was that it is a drug dealer who is only claiming it's a rape. It sounds to me like this was a drug related shooting. That falls under the category of criminal intent."

"Claiming rape? That's the problem with you men. You don't know how debasing and demeaning it is to be raped. To you it's like purse snatching, but to me...I grew up with a mother who was a drunk and I know what it feels like to hash up these awful, horrible feelings of being abused and degraded. And there is no way in hell that I am going to abandon this victim now that we've formed a bond."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Detective Green asks her. "This is a murder and we got it covered. You all can leave."

Stabler says, "Olivia is trying to make you see that we don't just look at our cases as paperwork or statistics. This girl reminds me of my daughters. With that in mind, I can solve this case because I have something special working for me...the vengeance of a father who's daughter has been violated."

"Until we know different, this man was murdered. My partner and I are investigating this murder, which apparently is out of your realm." Green says calmly.

"We can solve murders, right Goren?" Ames says from behind him.

Fontana waves his hand as if to shoo them all away. "Look, we were the first detectives on the scene and I'm a crotchety old seasoned veteran, so you all have to respect that and back off." Without looking at anyone in particular as if none of them are important he says, "The case is ours. Now leave so I can do my job." He slips on some latex gloves then walks over to the dead man to search his pockets.

"Hey, what do ya think you're doing? We have to comfort the victim first before we work the crime scene." Stabler says angrily as he walks over to the injured woman and slips on his own gloves. He crouches next to her and begins asking her if she is well enough to tell him what happened.

Goren also puts a pair of gloves on and snaps them loudly as he hurries over near the injured woman and starts searching through the clothing that had been torn from her, to confiscate her drugs.

The detectives start arguing and it turns into a loud shouting match. Sully slaps Bosco in the stomach and says, "Lets get out of here, there's too much law and disorder for my taste."

"Hold on, this is getting fun."

"Yah but if they start shooting, that will be a crap load of paperwork."

"Good point." Bosco says as he turns and follows Sully to the RMP.

As they head out of the alley, Sully notices a blind man turn into the alley with his seeing eye dog. "Excuse me, sir...you can't come down here. I'm afraid you'll have to walk around. This is a crime scene."

The man tips his head up to the left and right as if he is trying to smell who is talking to him, then he breaks out in a smile. "No it's ok, I'm suppose to be here."

Bosco responds, "No...you're not. There has been a crime committed in this alley and you can't walk through the crime scene."

The man stops and his dog sits as he reaches into his jacket. Bosco can't see his eyes through his dark glasses, and even though he is facing Bosco's direction, he seems to be staring distantly over Bosco's head as he talks.

"I'm not walking through the alley, I'm a cop." He opens his wallet and holds his badge straight out in front of him. "I'm detective Dunbar, and this guy is Hank." he says as he pats his dog.

Bosco moves the man's hand to correct where he is aiming the badge so that he can read it. "Is this a K-9 dog or something?"

"No. Don't be ridiculous, the dog is not the cop...I am."

"Ridiculous? Look pal, maybe you didn't notice because you can't see...but you're blind."

"I suppose you think that you're the first cop that has tried to tell me I can't do this job, but believe me, I've heard it all and I'm going to prove everyone wrong."

"Blind Justice." Sully Quips. "Now I've heard it all."

Bosco looks the man up and down in disbelief then he finally says, "You're going into that alley and you think you're going to convince those six detectives that are arguing over the body, that you're the best man for this case?"

He flashes a confident smile and nods his head. "Yup...that's exactly what I plan to do."

"Well good luck." Bosco says doubtfully. He shares a grin with Sully and they continue walking to the RMP, but Bosco leans close as he passes Dunbar and says softly, "You might be a bit more credible if you turn your badge right side up when you show it."

* * *

_Faith and Jelly visit the ME_

"Doctor Hawkes, I'm detective Gramaldi and this is detective Yokas. We spoke on the phone. Did you find anything new in doctor Kirkland's autopsy?"

"Yes as a matter of fact I did. I was just about to call you. I took the liberty of getting Kirkland's medical record's faxed to me. It turns out that he never had his appendix removed."

"Are you saying that our vic is missing his appendix?" Jelly asks.

"Not exactly. He has one..."

"There's a 'but' coming, there's always a 'but'. Ok...he has one, but what?"

"But it isn't his."

Faith and Jelly give each other a confused look. "How could it not be his?" Faith asks.

"It was surgically placed inside his body."

"Are you saying he had an appendix transplant?" Jelly surmises.

"There's no such thing." Hawkes informs him.

"And yet here we are." Jelly states.

Faith rolls her eyes and tells Jelly, "I think what he's trying to say is that this body is not doctor Kirkland but someone doctored it up to look like it was."

"Exactly." Hawkes says excitedly. "When I noticed the appendix was actually stitched in place, I took a closer look at his dental records. This body has all the same fillings and missing teeth, but the x-rays don't match up. They are two different people with the exact same dental history. I checked and found that Kirkland had several of his fillings for almost fifteen years, yet the fillings on this guy show no wear at all. They're brand new. I put a rush on the DNA sample but it still may be a day or two before I get it."

"Nice work Hawkes." Jelly says. He turns to Faith. "But now we got a body we can't ID, another one we can't find, and twenty eight suspects that we released, with the exception of the three we re-arrested. Shall we go question them again? This time I'm gonna do it as bad cop."

"As much as I'd love to see that, I don't think they're behind this."

"Then why are they going out of their way to throw us off the track with Harris?"

"Technically they're not. They're following the clues just like we are. Plus they're all from out of town. This is pretty elaborate to pull off from another state. But there is one person who had untraceable access to Kirkland's medical and dental records, Harris's case file, and access to a dead body, and can perform surgery and dental work on it."

"Doctor Thomas Kirkland himself. He's not dead."

"Exactly. Lets see how much his widow stands to receive in insurance money. I'll bet it's significantly more than he'd get if he just retires."


End file.
